How To Tame Lions
by Ellie 5192
Summary: "There's a confidence in her tone, a spring in her step and a glint in her eye, and he knows that even if they were completely lost, he wouldn't mind..." Follows Don't Forget To Sing In The Lifeboats in the Chasing Rainbows series. Can stand alone. A/R one shot. Tag to Lay Down Your Burdens II, cabin fic.


**How To Tame Lions**

He rubs the sweat from his eyes again, and metaphorically thanks the gods for the many hours spent in the gym. She's going to kill him. They're walking up a hill, just steep enough that he occasionally uses a branch to help himself up, but not so steep that she feels the need to slow their ascent. The dense shrubbery and low trees provide enough shade to keep most of the sun away, and she had warned him to bring the water in his bag, and he's doing just fine because he's military and this really is nothing. He didn't realise she had such stamina.  
She's walking just ahead of him, barely breaking a sweat and only puffing slightly because she's talking to him on their way.  
She reaches a small peak, and he hears her make a quiet noise of triumph.  
"Found it" she says, looking back at him with a smile that kills any narky remark he had on the tip of his tongue.  
"You weren't sure?" he asks lightly, smiling just enough that she knows he's only teasing.  
"No, I knew where we're going"  
There's a confidence in her tone, a spring in her step and a glint in her eye, and he knows that even if they were completely lost, he wouldn't mind, because they brought half a day's provisions, and the company isn't bad either. She looks ahead of her again, and then turns back to him with a grin just as he comes level to her.  
He looks down the other side of the ridge, seeing a natural path to take through the trees, and he can just make out the sound of water flowing over rocks, and a bird chirps in the distance. He points towards the downward slope, gesturing with his eyes as he takes out the water they packed on his back.  
"It's just down this hill" she answers, taking the offered drink, watching him closely, the back of her hand on her mouth as she watches him take the drink. There's a sly look in her eye, as though she's about to confess something naughty.  
"Shall we?" he says softly.  
She only nods, and continues down through the gap in the trees, the sound of the water getting louder as they go.  
"You came up here by yourself?" he asks, concern lacing his tone as he navigates the uneven tree roots and rocks underfoot.  
The forest is dense, and far enough away from the settlement to be considered isolated, and though the path she's led them on hasn't been particularly treacherous, he thinks of all the many ways it would a bad idea for her to go wandering the surrounding mountains by herself. A surge of protectiveness overcomes him; he doesn't think it's inappropriate or misdirected given their respective natures, their history, their relationship. He wants to find out if she's got people in the settlement she cares about and who care about her; people who would notice if she went missing, or would offer to go with her in the first place. He knows she is close to her teaching aid, and friendly with a couple of the parents whose children she tutors after hours. But there had never been time to make friends while they were running through space, and she was in such a vulnerable position as President, and he regrets that he can't be there as her shoulder.  
"There was a group of us who went scouting through this area… civilians… just to see what's up here. We spread out pretty far, but we all had a vague idea of the terrain. I had a flare gun with me if things went wrong"  
She sounds unconcerned, almost nonchalant, and so he pushes away his worry and comforts himself with the knowledge that she would never deliberately endanger herself. At least, not now.  
"So what brought you out here?" he asks, the implication that this sort of thing is not really the norm for her.  
"It was when we were finalising the school, and I was going crazy with all the bureaucracy. Just needed to get out of there. Clear my head"  
He can understand that. She seems to acknowledge that his visits are not just about her; that the change of scenery and the involvement in civilian life, even for a couple of days at a time, is keeping him afloat when little else is. That he gets to spend his downtime in her company is an added bonus he doesn't take for granted. He didn't think he'd enjoy the physical labour she's insisting he suffer through, but the joy of being outdoors, using his limbs, breathing the scent of the forest, talking to her; it's adding up to be one of the best days since the attacks, and he has her to thank for that.  
"Okay" she says, coming to a stop only a few steps ahead of him and turning back to close the gap between them.  
"Close your eyes" she says with a grin, taking his hand as though to lead him. The skin of her hands is much softer than his.  
He smiles at her, an incredulous look on his face, his eyes light but confused, a protest almost forming.  
"Trust me" she adds, still grinning, her comment light and her hand warm in his.  
He shakes his head, smiling wide, and she returns the toothy grin, practically bouncing on the spot. He just shakes his head again and closes his eyes. She gives him a sceptical look that he laughs at, knowing he's been caught peeking through his eyelashes. He lifts his hand- the one not intertwined with hers- and dramatically places it over his eyes. He feels her pause; suspects she is waving her free fingers in front of his face, though he's being fair and going blind. Then he feels a light tug on his hand, and her other hand embracing his elbow, and he's lead forward.  
She mutters under her breath when there's a protruding rock or a branch close to his feet, but she's waited until they're on the last of the trail, and it's relatively flat, and he doesn't stumble under her guidance.  
He's been reading too much; he finds the moment poetic.  
He feels the air shift and knows they've cleared the bulk of the trees, and the sound of running water is only a few feet away, he's sure. She stops him, and the feel of the ground beneath his feet says they're now standing on grass. Her hand is still clutched in his, her other around his elbow, her whole side practically pressed along his arm.  
"Okay. Open" she says softly, her voice light as air.  
He opens his eyes slowly. The sight almost makes his knees melt. It's exactly as she described it. A small stream leads its way into a pool that looks just big enough to swim in, the overflow running into a brook just to his left, as he suspected. The water in the pool is crystal clear, and he can make out the flat rocks at the bottom, and the moss in and around the water's edge, and the shade provided by the forest, makes this little spot almost magical; untouched and so out of place on a planet with barely any life. There's a flat clearing on the other side of the stream, sturdy enough to hold a small cabin. The feeling of possibility washes over him and settles like a warmth near his heart, and he understands why she looks like she could float away on a summer breeze.

"Isn't it wonderful?" she whispers, leaning into his side, her eyes completely focused on the scene in front of her.

"Just like you described it" he says, awe tainting his voice and betraying how emotional he's getting over this place.

"Mmm-hmm"

"It's beautiful, Laura"

She only grins, catching his eye and turning sheepish in that girly way that is so rare yet so human. He smiles at her, full and wide, and squeezes her hand, still clasped around his. Her grin only widens, and she shrugs into herself in a way that's far too shy to suggest she could ever have lead their people safely away from the cylons. He never knows how to reconcile these two sides of her; how to comprehend that the bubbly woman beside him once airlocked a prisoner without a second thought; once stood in his brig in silent defiance ready to play the martyr to her cause. He is amazed that she can embody so many facets at once, and he suspects he's barely even scratched the surface. Without thinking he leans in and kisses her, softly and without further intent; an acknowledgement of everything that's changing since they found New Caprica. She returns the same pressure, no more no less, and hums happily in the back of her throat.

They break away and she leans her head on his shoulder for moment, before letting go of his arm and wandering closer to the water. He watches as she perches on a rock on the bank and methodically removes her shoes, rolling her pants to just above her knee. She glides her feet into the water and swirls them around. He follows her, divests himself of his own footwear, and stands in fresh water for the first time in years. It's so glorious he could cry.

"Isn't it wonderful?" she says again, barely a whisper.

"It's perfect"

"When the weather warms again I'm going to go swimming. I haven't done it in years"

The water is too cold to swim now; the weather is starting to cool and the mountain breeze makes it just that bit nippy despite the sun. But he suspects that when it warms up again it will be just the right temperature, and makes a mental note to join her.

"It's just perfect, Laura"

"It is, isn't it?"

And they stand that way for what feels like hours. They talk about all the good things that are happening for the people, but it really feels like they're talking about the future, and for a while neither of them remember that this place can only really be temporary, or that it's not Earth, or that the cylons may very well fly over their heads and take over. They don't think about the many lives they've lost to reach this point. They don't discuss the possibilities open to them. They don't need to.

It suddenly feels like they have all the time in the world.


End file.
